By virtue of the Sacrament of Baptism, we assume priestly, kingly, and prophetic services, for Christ and his Church. By receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation out of our willing volition, we have made a commitment to follow Christ on his way, by denying our own desires for ourselves but to submitting ourselves to God’s will on us, so that we carry our respective crosses all the way until our death.
Carrying a cross means to bear a prospect of martyrdom
as a result of our apostolic works, bearing abundant fruit of grace we receive,
as demonstrating our steadfast faith in Christ. Therefore, being a faithful
Christian does not mean that your own personal wishes for yourselves and your
loved ones would be fulfilled, just because we accept Christ as our personal
savior through baptism. Rather, to live as Christians, we offer our lives as
living sacrifices acceptable to God, not conforming to the world (Romans
12:1-2). So this is what we have accepted out of our free will in receiving the
Sacrament of Confirmation.
Though we have made our vow to serve Christ through
our selfless apostolic works, as willed by him and empowered by the Holy
Spirit, Satan in the world constantly attacks us to thwart our commitment to
faith. His goal is to turn us into apostasy and make us betray God, as well as, our
Confirmation vow. Thus, Satan certainly will make it difficult for us to keep our
faith in facing persecution, hoping that many would denounce faith and give
into his wicked way of life. And Jesus has warned the danger of our apostolic work and told how we can conduct
ourselves in facing persecution (Matthew 10:16-31). Remember, Jesus, who sends
us on our apostolic mission (Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15-18; John 20:21) has never
promised that he would pull us out of persecutor’s execution. Therefore, when
we are sent into the world, we must understand that our apostolic journey many
not necessarily have a way of return, because it may lead to martyrdom. Weather
we may be executed by a persecutor or not, one thing for sure about our journey
of carrying a cross will leads to greater glory of God.
In fact, martyrdom is faithfulness per excellence.
There is no better way than this to show how faithful we are to Christ. Many
early Christians thought that being chosen to end their earthly lives in
martyrdom was a special honor. They were not afraid of being tortured to death
by the hands of persecutors. They felt so special to die like Jesus, Stephen,
James, Peter, Paul, and many more countless martyred Saints.
On September 28, the Roman Catholic Church honors the
heroic lives of the sixteen Saints martyred in Japan from 1633 to 1637. Out of these sixteen martyred heroes of the
Catholic faith, nine of them are Japanese, including two women, four are Spanish, one
is Filipino, one is Italian, and one is French. In the United States and the
Philippines, this memorial feast is called “Memorial of St. Lawrence Ruiz (San
Lorenzo Ruiz de Manila) and companions, martyrs”, while in Japan, as “Memorial
of St. Thomas Nishi and 15 companion martyrs”. These martyred Saints followed the path of the
twenty-six martyred in Nagasaki, 1597, the first group of martyrs in Japan.
The sixteen martyred Saints, beatified in 1981 and canonized in 1987 by Pope St. John Paul II, honored on September 28 are:
Group
I: Those martyred in 1633
St.
Domingo (Dominic) Ibanez de Erquicia: Spanish Dominican
priest, after teaching at Universidad de Santo Thomas in Manila, and preaching in
various parts of the Philippines, he entered Japan stealthily in 1623 and
served as Vicar Provincial to the missions incognito. However, he was arrested
and tortured, being demanded to apostatize. But he refused to denounce his
faith, and was subsequently put to death.
St.
Francisco (Francis ) Shoyemon: Japanese cooperator to
the Dominicans, served as a companion of St. Domingo Ibanez de Erquicia,
executed together with his spiritual father, St. Domingo Ibanez de Erquicia,
upon receiving Dominican habit in prison.
St.
Jacob (James) Kyushei Tomonaga of St. Mary: Japanese
Dominican priest, hailed from a noble family and studied at the Jesuit college
in Nagasaki, before being expelled from Japan in 1614, because of the “crime”
of being a catechist. He reached in Manila but returned to Japan in 1632
because of his desire to help his fellow Christians in Japan, though knowing
that he would be killed. He was arrested, tortured, and killed for the “crime”
of propagating Christian faith.
St. Michael Korobioye: Japanese lay catechist, a companion to St. Jacob of St.
Mary. When he was tortured, he revealed
the hiding place of St. Jacob of St. Mary. He repented that he gave in to the
persecutor’s pressure and joined St. Jacob’s martyrdom upon confessing his
faith.
St. Luke (Lucas) Alonso of the Holy Spirit: Spanish Dominical priest. Upon teaching
at Universidad de Santo Thomas and preaching in Cagayan, he entered Japan in
1623. He faced and endured so many predicaments while working for the Lord
there. He was arrested in Osaka and sent to Nagasaki for execution, upon being
tortured.
St. Mateo (Matthew) Kohioye of the Rosary: Japanese Dominican brother, serving as a
catechist, while assisting St. Lucas Alonso of the Holy Spirit, and became a
Dominican novice. He was arrested in Osaka and endured horrendous torture,
maintaining his steadfast faith in Christ to death. He was 18.
Group II: Those martyred in 1634:
St. Magdalene of Nagasaki: Japanese Augustinian tertiary, whose parents were also martyred.
She served as a catechist and cared for the poor and the sick. When her
spiritual director, St. Hyacinth Jordan Ansalone, was arrested, she presented
herself to the authority, declaring her Christian identity. Subsequently, she
was arrested and tortured cruelly. Then, she was hung on the gibbet and died
after 13 days. Her faith never flinched throughout the torture and the thirteen-day
of hanging.
St. Marina of Ohmura: Japanese Dominical tertiary (Third Order), consecrated herself
to Christ. She served those who were poor and displaced selflessly and tirelessly.
Upon her arrest, she was stripped naked for shameful humiliation, shown as a
public display, throughout the village. But she marched rather modestly as an
untainted virgin. Then, she was transferred to Nagasaki and burned alive with
slow fire.
St. Hyacinth
Jordan Ansalone: Italian Dominican priest. After his
missionary work in the Philippines, mainly serving the poor and the sick, he
came to Japan under the disguise of being a merchant, in 1632 to offer himself
for persecuted Christians in Japan. Upon his arrest, he was tortured, forced to
see his companions being beheaded in front of him, then hung upside-down on the
for 7 days in order to eventually have his head fall into a manure-filled
bucket.
St. Thomas Hioji Rokuzayemon
Nishi: Japanese Dominican
priest, whose parents were martyred. He studied at the Jesuit college in
Nagasaki. Then he was expelled from Japan, arrived in Manila in 1620. There, he
joined the Dominican, further studied at Universidad de Santo Thomas. Then he
was ordained as priest in 1624. Upon serving as a missionary to Taiwan, he
returned to Japan with passion to help struggling Christians, especially
bringing those who apostatized back to faith. While caring for St. Hyacinth Ansalone,
who fell ill, he was arrested and tortured. Though he was forced to denounce
his faith, he resolvedly refused. Then, he was hung upside-down to death.
Group III: Those martyred
in 1637. They came
to Japan from Manila together to help persecuted Christians there in 1636. As
soon as they arrived in Okinawa, they were arrested and imprisoned for a
year. Then, they were transferred to
Nagasaki for more tortures and execution.
St. Antonio (Anthony) Gonzales: Spanish Dominical priest. He taught at
Universidad de Santo Thomas in Manila and served as its lector. He led the 1636
Dominican missionary expedition to Japan from Manila. After a year from his
arrest, he died in prison, upon enduring series of tortures, while keeping his
faith steadfast.
St. Guillaume (William) Courted: French Dominican priest. He taught at
Universidad de Santo Thomas in Manila. Various tortures were inflicted on him,
including, water torture, inserting needles under fingernails, and hole
hanging, he never denounced his faith but kept praising the Blessed Virgin and
chanting Psalms to endure the horrendous tortures. Then, he was beheaded.
St. Miguel (Michael) de
Aozaraza: Spanish
Dominican priest. Prior to Joining St. Antonio Gonzales on the mission to
Japan, he served as missionary in Bataan. He endured tortures and sent to
Nagasaki for execution. There, the authority put an apostatized ex-priest to
persuade him to denounce his faith. But he fended such a devil’s offer and put
the betrayer in shame, saying, “You apostatized yourself. Your Latin is fluent
but its content is not good”. Then, he was further tortured and died while
swords were cutting his body.
St. Vincente (Vincent)
Shiozuka: Japanese Dominican
priest. He studied at Jesuit college in Nagasaki until his expulsion from
Japan. Upon his arrival in Manila, he further studied at Universidad de Santo
Thomas and ordained as priest there and ministered to Japanese exiles in
Manila. During his imprisonment, being constantly tortured, he once apostatized
but repented and soon returned to faith. He was hung on the gibbet.
St. Lazaro (Lazarus) of Kyoto: Japanese lay Christian. He suffered from
leprosy and was excelled from Japan with other lepers to the Philippines. Though
not much is known as to what he did in Manila, he joined St. Antonio Gonzales,
as an assistant, on his mission to Japan. However, upon arrest in Okinawa, he
could not endure tortured much and apostatized after a few hours. But he
repented and died in faith with other companions from Manila.
St. Lorenzo (Lawrence) Ruiz: Filipino lay Christian. He was educated
by Dominican friars and joined the Rosary Confraternity. He also served the
Dominicans as escribano for his excellent penmanship. He was married and had three
children. When he was falsely accused of murdering a Spaniard, he joined St.
Antonio Gonzales’ missionary expedition to Japan, in order to escape from injustice.
Unlike other Dominican companions, who were ready to die as martyrs, he was
probably not determined to face severe persecution in Japan. Nevertheless, he
remained faithful to Christ, enduring series of gruesome tortures. One persecuting
official took pity on him, realizing he was a layman married and had children,
and offered a chance to save him from execution if he would denounce his faith.
But he flatly rejected such an tempting offer. According to the report in Latin
sent to Manila by a witnessing missionary, San Lorenzo said, “Ego Catholicus
sum et animo prompto paratoque pro Deo mortem obibo. Si mille vitas haberem,
cunctas ei offerrem (I am a Catholic and wholeheartedly do accept death
for God; Had I a thousand lives, all these to Him shall I offer). Then, he
was hung upside-down and died after 2 days. He became the first Filipino Saint.
At that time, martyrs made up less than 1 % of the faithful in Japan. Many went hiding in remote islands or caves in mountains or disguised themselves as Buddhist, called “Kakure Kirishitan”, or apostatized. The Shogunate officials inspect every household and family to weed out Christians. They often asked to step on or spit on an icon of Christ. Anyone who refused to do was deemed as Christian and arrested and tortured. Unless they denounce their faith and apostatize, they were executed in public. Not to mention, those who were caught in teaching and exercising their Christian faith, were arrested, tortured, and executed, unless they “covert” not to be Christian anymore.
In such a social context, the above listed sixteen
heroes of Christian faith, stood strong in faith to heroic martyrdom, though
two of them had their faith shaken at once during the torture.
The Dominican martyrs from the Philippines, including
St. Antonio Gonzales and St. Thomas Nishi, knew that going to Japan meant
death. Nevertheless, it was their ardent desire to help the persecuted Church
in Japan for the sake of Christ, knowing that they would shed their blood. But
they knew that their blood, added to the blood of those who had shed their
blood, as the Twenty-Six Martyrs of Nagasaki in 1597, such as St. Peter (Pedro)
Bautista, Spanish Franciscan from the Philippines, and St. Pablo (Paul) Miki,
Japanese Jesuit before ordination.
Certainly, in honoring these sixteen martyred Saints
in Japan, as well as other martyred Saints, this well-known line of Tertullian’s
writing in “Apologeticus” is fitting: Plures efficimur, quotiens
metimur a vobis: semen est sanguis Christianorum , which is often
translated as “the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church",
while its literal meaning is, “We spring up in greater numbers the more we
are mown down by you: the blood of the Christians is the seed of a new life”.
And these heroic Saints really lived up to these words
of Jesus:
Whoever wishes to come after me must deny
himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life
will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. What profit
would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? Or what
can one give in exchange for his life? (Matthew 16:24-26).
In the jurisdiction of the USCCB (United States Conference
of Catholic Bishops), these Scripture Readings are assigned in honoring these
sixteen martyred Saints in Japan: 2 Maccabees 7:1-2, 9-14 (First Reading); Responsorial
Psalm 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9; John 15:18-21(Gospel Reading).
The First Reading juxtaposes the heroic martyrdoms of
the seven sons, who was tortured to death while their mother was forced to
watch. No mater how agonizing the torture became, they all refused to violate
the Torah by eating pork, being Jews of steadfast faith in God and integrity to
the Torah.
In fact, their mother encouraged her seven sons to die
nobly, saying, “The Lord God is looking on and truly has compassion on us,
as Moses declared in his song, when he openly bore witness, saying, ‘And God
will have compassion on his servants”(2 Maccabees 7:6). Then, following the
heroic martyrdom of the first son, the second son said these words before his
death, “You accursed fiend, you are depriving us of this present life, but
the King of the universe will raise us up to live again forever, because we are
dying for his laws”(2 Maccabees 7:9). Then, the third one said, bravely
stretching his arms, “It was from Heaven that I received these; for the sake
of His laws I disregard them; from him I hope to receive them again”(2
Maccabees 7:11). The fourth brother said before his heroic death, “It is my
choice to die at the hands of mortals with the hope that God will restore me to
life; but for you, there will be no resurrection to life (2 Maccabees
7:14). The fifth brother said, looking at the evil pagan king, “Mortal
though you are, you have power over human beings, so you do what you please.
But do not think that our nation is forsaken by God. Only wait, and you will
see how his great power will torment you and your descendants”(2 Maccabees
7:16-17). Then, the sixth brother said, “Have no vain illusions. We suffer
these things on our own account, because we have sinned against our God; that
is why such shocking things have happened. Do not think, then, that you will go
unpunished for having dared to fight against God”(2 Maccabees 7:18-19).
Finally the seventh brother said:
What is the delay? I will not obey the
king’s command. I obey the command of the law given to our ancestors through
Moses. But you, who have contrived every kind of evil for the Hebrews, will not
escape the hands of God. We, indeed, are suffering because of our sins. Though for a little while our living Lord has
been angry, correcting and chastising us, he will again be reconciled with his
servants. But you, wretch, most vile of mortals, do not, in your insolence,
buoy yourself up with unfounded hopes, as you raise your hand against the
children of heaven. You have not yet escaped the judgment of the almighty and
all-seeing God. Our brothers, after enduring brief pain, have drunk of
never-failing life, under God’s covenant. But you, by the judgment of God,
shall receive just punishments for your arrogance. Like my brothers, I offer up
my body and my life for our ancestral laws, imploring God to show mercy soon to
our nation, and by afflictions and blows to make you confess that he alone is
God. Through me and my brothers, may there be an end to the wrath of the
Almighty that has justly fallen on our whole nation
(2 Maccabees 7:30-38).
These words of the martyred seven brothers echo what
these sixteen martyred Saints in Japan said to their torturers, showing their
steadfast faith in God. Amidst of horrendous pain, their kept their faith
unshaken because they remain confident in God’s care, as reflected in the responsorial
Psalm refrain:
The Lord delivered me from all my fears
(Psalm 34:5).
Therefore, they remained fearless during tortures and
execution.
Through the Gospel Reading (John 15:18-21), Jesus reminds
us that those who would persecute Christ today will certainly persecute us for
we are his disciples. Though he has come and spoken, those who are against him
and will persecute his disciples still do not know the truth that he was sent
by God the Father. Though their ignorance now has no excuse, Jesus certainly
calls us to face them not only with our courage but to enlighten them with his
truth until our death, so that he will be glorified.
We cannot let our fear of being killed keep us from
speaking our faith and Christ’s Good News and our work of faith. We never stop
our apostolic works until our death, weather it will be martyrdom or else.
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